Good afternoon brothers and sisters, Running a day behind of writing.  Sometimes I let a passage roll around in my head for a day.  Then when I come back to it, there is a little more to think about.  I want these devotions to be an encouragement to meditate on what God says.  If it is just a mechanical process and not meditation, then not sure it is of much real value.   Blessings,  Jeff  The Lord promises protection for Judah and Jerusalem from the Assyrians.  The same protection is not given to Israel.  Nor does it extend to protection from Babylon in the future.   It occurs to me that the real implicit question is what will Judah and Jerusalem do with this time of protection.  Will they see it as a reprieve from judgment and repent or will they see it as what they deserve and continue in their disobedience? Then of course I have to ask the same question of myself.  I must remind myself that the current circumstances are not an indication of my spiritual condition. The standard is l

Good morning friends, So glad that providence landed us in Jude.  Like the minor prophets in the OT, the shorter letters are often overlooked.  But they are packed with God's truth.  It is good that Jude wants us to remember what we should never forget.  A theme I picked up from an Alister Begg sermon and used in one of mine last summer.  But he got it from the Bible.  It is not innovation.  Everything we do must be based on scripture. Blessings, Jeff Jude, Jesus brother, writes a letter to remind his readers of what they once fully knew. What was it that they once fully knew? Jesus is the one who saved Israel out of the land of Egypt and then destroyed those who did not believe.  So what we have been reading in Moses about the 40 years in the wilderness was really the work of the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus is the one who has kept the fallen angels (those who did not stay within their own position of authority) in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the jud

Good morning fellow pilgrims & exiles, Worked through some thoughts on the 3 big questions of life,(Where did I come from, why am I here and where am I going) as the Israelites may have thought as they were  knocking on the door of the Promised Land.  Which led me to think about the body we know as TCCS.   History matters. Blessings  Jeff Compare and contrast the first attempted entry and the second successful entry  First - Kadesh-Barnea in the south - 11 days journey from Horeb, entry  to Promised Land was overland, no river to cross, larger area (to the Euphrates), 12 spies whole land. Moses & Aaron included. Second - east side opposite Jericho, entry across the Jordan, Canaan only. 2 spies Jericho only.  Aaron is dead and Moses is excluded. So this book is a kind of last will and testament for Moses.  Reminding the new generation of the blessings and cursing of the covenant.  The foundation for the conquest was established in the law.  Thinking back to "did God really

Dear friends, One of the marks of the prophetic voice in Scripture is that it rarely has good news.  The prophets after Judah's return from Babylon gave encouragement to re-build the temple.  But there was a lot of warning as well.  All the prophets leading up to fall of Israel and then Judah are "wake up before its too late."  So as we make our way through Isaiah, we must face this reality.  Part of the answer to the Westminster Shorter Catechism question on what "before me" in the First Commandment teaches us is "God, who sees all things, takes notice of and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god."  Why would I do any thing with which God is much displeased? Blessings, Jeff The drunkards of Ephraim. Fading flower of its glorious beauty.  What a pleasant description for a tribe of Israel.  And not once but twice.  The exact opposite of what Israel was supposed to be.  Referring to the northern kingdom that followed Jeroboam after Sol

Dear saint in Christ Jesus I have tried to point out how the Ten Commandments are woven into the fabric of Moses five books.  Today is another example that also shows how rejection of biblical principles leads to disastrous consequences. Jeff The thread of the sixth commandment, You shall not murder, re-appears.  Different Hebrew words for kill and murder.  Based on the preceding distinctions and the purpose of cities of refuge, the commandment is more nuanced than it appears.  Careless or negligent killing is prohibited, but is not a capital offense.  What is clear is the value of human life and that there is no conflict between capital punishment and value of life.   To be fair to the Pharisees, the focus is definitely on the external act and not the heart.  So when Jesus includes hating a brother or saying "You fool" as being the same as actual murder, I can see how His audience would be surprised at His teaching.  That being said, when the 10th is considered which focuses

Some more catching up.  God uses repetition for emphasis.  First we have the history of Israel in the "history" books.  But then He repeats the lessons of history in the Wisdom book of Psalms.  Can it be any clearer that the message of history is really important and that Israel didn't get it?  Then the Spirit says "What about you?" Blessings, Jeff This Psalm rehearses the checkered history of Israel up to the time of David.  Deliverance followed by decline.  Exodus, Judges and Saul were not great examples of Israel's obedience.   God chooses the tribe of Judah and David in particular instead of "tent of Joseph, tribe of Ephraim" i.e. the symbols of the tribes that did not initially follow David.  Point seems to be that even within His chosen people, the tribes do not have equal roles.  The constant testing to see if the nation will submit to God's choice or seek their autonomy.  The transition from Judges to Kings is story of Israel rejecting

Good evening friends, Doing a little catch up on Sunday evening. Calvin's commentary  It is therefore as if he had said, "Thou wilt not only strike and afflict, O Lord, but wilt cause the chastisements to be not without effect; for by them thou wilt subdue the fierceness of men, so that those who were formerly estranged from thee shall bend their neck to thee." This passage should lead us to observe how much we need chastisements, which train us to obedience to God; for we are carried away by prosperity to such an extent, that we think that we have a right to do anything, and we even grow wanton and insolent when God treats us with gentleness.  Isaiah is given the long view of history.  Plans formed of old.  All cultures have been under His control.  Progress in civilizations is driven by His correction.  One civilization conquering another produces gradual progress.  This is not a "survival of the fittest" impersonal process.  God is in control of the flow of a

Good afternoon saints in Christ, We have heard a lot about unity and union from a political perspective over the last day.  Today's devotional is about unity from spiritual perspective.  It will be important for us to understand the differences in the weeks and months ahead.  For example, what is the source of political unity and what is the source of spiritual unity? Blessings, Jeff Here we go again.  Moses must have been tearing his hair out.  This new generation had grown up in the wilderness because their parents and grand parents were disobedient.  While Gad and Reuben were not refusing to cross the Jordan, their desire to have the land outside of Canaan proper must have been discouraging to the other tribes.   Notice that Moses does not take this request to God.  We have seen other times when questions about the application of the law were taken to the Lord.  Neither do we see discipline from God for this agreement.  This made me think about what exactly was the "Promise

Happy inauguration day As the new administration is inaugurated today, remember that God is in control.  He knows what we need to learn about ourselves and what it will take for us to learn these things.  I have been using a "suggested prayer" regarding Covid.  Part of it is that God would make it go away right now.  Well, we have been praying this for 10 months and God has wisely chosen not to comply with my demands.  I have started praying about what God wants me to learn with infection, hospitalization and death rates at new highs.  One thing is that He is in control.  He uses secondary causes (science and government) but his kingdom rules over all. Blessings, Jeff My prayer time this morning started with Psalm 75:1 We give thanks, for your name is near.  As I meditated on this, the nearness of God got my attention.  There is a blessing associated with being near to God.  But there is also a duty to glorify Him.  In Isaiah's day, it was becoming more and more apparent

Hello again my friends, Managed to get behind yesterday.  As you will see, I was struck by likening the day of the Lord and a thief breaking into a house.   Listening to a commentary about world events from a Christian worldview by Al Mohler.  He reports that a significant number of "spiritual but not religious" people are turning to spiritual directors to help them get in touch with themselves.  Think about that.  People are willing to pay someone to listen to their fears and help them feel better.  But they don't want to go where they can hear the truth about where they came from, why they are here and where they are going (the gospel) for free.  As you rub shoulders (or socially distanced equivalent) with other people, listen for hints that they may be "spiritual but not religious" and point them to the narrow gate. Blessings, Jeff The day of the Lord will come like a thief.  Just thinking, How exactly does a thief come? Unexpectedly - no one expects a thief

Good morning friends, I think we can all agree that priorities can be identified by the amount of time and effort spent on our activities.  As Israel is nearing the entry to the Promised Land, God sets the priorities for His people.  God told them the time and effort needed to show obedience.  Now that I am mostly retired, the use of time helps me to see where my priorities are.  Spending time preparing these devotions is a blessing to me.  I have had the habit of daily quiet time and mediation, but this is at a new level.  I pray that these daily devotions encourage you to grow in your relationship with the Lord. Blessings, Jeff The appointed feasts established in Leviticus 23 before leaving Sinai are now repeated 40 years later prior to the 2nd chance to enter the Promised Land.  The specific sacrifices were not established at Sinai. Feast of first fruits and subsequent feast of weeks are for the Promised Land only.  So they had not yet  been celebrated. Feast of Booth was to be a re

Good evening brothers and sisters, Hope you had a good Sabbath.  After chatting with Peg today, thought adding reference to the day of the reading might be helpful to those using M'Cheyne but with a different start date.   This group of prophecies/oracles is another challenge for understanding this type of literature.  Exactly when some are to occur is a challenge.  So I hope these thoughts are useful. Blessings, Jeff Various commentaries including Calvin point out that Judah frequently used Egypt as a defense against invaders from the north and east.  Given the 400 years in increasing degrees of oppression after Joseph, it is strange that Israel and later Judah would make alliances with Egypt.  But here are some of the cases: one of Solomon's foreign wives was Pharaoh's daughter, Rehoboam hides out there to escape from Solomon,  after Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem, Jeremiah is taken there by rebels. So God judges Egypt to discipline Jews for relying on it instead of on

Good afternoon friends, Didn't get this one finished yesterday. Thought about "some people will do anything to get their names in the Bible" as a title.  People name their children after biblical characters, but I don't think I have ever met a Zelophehad. Blessings Jeff Another odd episode in the journey to the  promised land.  A very specific situation where a certain man of a certain tribe died leaving 5 named daughters. Out of the roughly 600,000 able bodied men who left Egypt, it would seem that this is the only case where there was no male heir. But we have already seen how specific applications of the law come through such examples.  In modern terms, the Supreme Court is still making specific applications of the Constitution.  So it is possible that this was the case that was brought to Moses' attention.  However, we must not take this as something that surprised God.  In essence, this can be seen as a test.  Here is something unexpected.  Does Moses try to

Good afternoon fellow saints, As we come to the end of a week of more history making events, this seems to be an appropriate portion of this Psalm.  I am remined again that actions have consequences.  Sometimes we don't know what the consequences will be, sometimes the consequences seem to be disproportionate to the action.  But there are always consequences.  The Westminster Confession of Faith calls this "contingency of secondary causes".  Our free choices are what God uses to bring about whatsoever comes to pass. As Christians, we need to think about the likely consequences of our actions.  If they could reasonably bring reproach, shame and dishonor on the name of Christ, we must reconsider those actions. Blessings, Jeff David's cry for help. My reproach, shame and dishonor. No one shows pity.  He meets only with cruelty (poison for food and sour wine to drink).  I am puzzled by how the greatest king of Israel could find himself in this condition.  Fleeing from Abs

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, As we seek the Celestial City and flee from City of Destruction, let us exhort one another every day so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13).  We walk this path together.  If you find yourself thinking you are all by yourself, call a brother or sister for some exhortation and encouragement. Blessings, Jeff This is one of those interesting "didn't I just read about this" passages that occur in the M'Cheyne reading plan. The recent reading in Numbers has involved Balaam and Balak the king of Moab.  And today's reading was how the Moabite's lured Israel into blatant sexual sin.  If we go back to Moab's founding, after Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot's 2 daughters sleep with him and give birth to Ammon and Moab. Several chapters back in Numbers, Moabites refuses to let Israel pass through their land.  Israel isn't interested in taking Moab's land.  Then if we think forward to R

Good afternoon fellow servants, Some of the strangest events recorded in scripture can make us scratch our heads.  Why did God put this in his Word?  How does this advance the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15?  Such is the story of Balaam.  We see him at the end of his accurate prophecies but before involvement in helping to leading Israel astray.  I encourage you to dig into these stories and not dismiss as something that is not really that important to God's plan of salvation. Blessings, Jeff Balaam is the most unusual prophet that I can think of.  There is the conversation with his donkey who was more aware than her master.  Then Balak, king of Moab, tries to induce him to curse Israel by taking him to three different locations.  But Balaam sticks to what the LORD told him to say.  So at this point, it seem like he is a true prophet.  Certainly the things he says about Israel exactly right.   So why is this story included and in such detail?  How did Moses even become aware of these

Good morning brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you to be strong in these difficult days.  We see things as out of control and we get anxious.  Isaiah saw difficult times and God comforted him by revealing His plans for Babylon.  The same God that had a plan in Isaiah's day is the same God that has a plan for our day. Blessings, Jeff This chapter is prophesy of coming judgment on Babylon.  Judah has not yet gone into captivity in Babylon.  So before God uses Babylon to judge Judah & Benjamin, He gives Isaiah the understanding that there is a plan for what Judah will soon experience.  The end is known from the beginning. Described as "the day of the Lord".  In Daniel 5, we read about the rather sudden fall of Babylon when Darius the Mede takes over after the handwriting was on the wall.  But Babylon had been in decline for sometime prior to this.  But then we see that Babylon is still a spiritual reality in Revelation.  So there is a temporal judgment and there

Hello again my friends, James is often call "the proverbs of the New Testament".  Men's group discussed Proverbs 5:1-8 and 10:10-32 this past Saturday.  We tend to see proverbs as short, pithy statements of how to live a better life.  But as long as we view them as external rules to impose on ourselves, we go astray.  When God writes the law (and proverbs) on our hearts, they become internal means for the Spirit to guide us.   If you find yourself feeling bound by and to external requirements so as to escape punishment, I encourage you to turn to the Lord so that the veil on your heart may be removed.  Please leave a comment or contact Jonathan via the church website so that he or I can point the way to the narrow gate. Blessings Jeff It would be nice if James was warning society in general about the miseries coming due to wealth.  But this letter is to "the twelve tribes in the Dispersion" (1:1).  So James, the brother of Jesus, was aware of this problem within

Last bit of catch up for 1/9. Context of this section (9:8 - 10:4) is arrogance and oppression within Israel and Judah.  "For all this his anger has not turned away and his hand is stretch out still" ends each group of 4 or five verses.  It is a grim and depressing  assessment of spiritual condition of God's chosen people.   At least one of God's purposes for Israel in the Promised Land was "so that the world may know that there is a God in Israel".  Part of this was a society that cared for the poor and did not show partiality based on economic condition.  God gave specific commands about how to provide for the poor (leaving gleanings in the fields, year of Jubilee, etc).  But after all these years, Israel and Judah really didn't get the message. One way of the other, God will demonstrated that there is a God in Israel.

Doing some catching up.  I thought I had posted this from 1/8, but the blog doesn't lie. If it wasn't for the fact that this ritual shows up in Hebrews 9:13, I would likely think of it as just an odd custom.  After all, the ceremonial clean laws and all associated with them are fulfilled in Christ.  I don't become ceremonially unclean so I don't think about how to become ceremonially clean.  But to ancient Israel, this was a daily concern.  God gave them rules on how they could become unclean and how long the condition would last.   If He did not then appoint in His word how they could become clean, they would be on their own to figure it out.   Hebrews 9:13-14 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the li

Good evening, Hope you had a blessed Sabbath.  Just some thoughts as Israel approaches the Promised Land.  Just think, they were waiting for the rest of the unfaithful who refused to enter the Land 40 years before to perish. Blessings, Jeff The final years of wandering in the wilderness are spent conquering land on the east side of the Jordan from the Dead Sea to north of Sea of Galilee.  This is the land that the two and a half tribes will take as their inheritance.  Provides some context for the fear exhibited by people of Jericho.  It is not just the Exodus from Egypt, but the conquest of their next door neighbors. How little is mentioned about the 40 years of wandering.  Just 8 chapters since the failure to enter the Promised Land. The seemingly polite requests to "pass through your land" is met with armed confrontation.  I have wondered if Sihon knew what he was getting into.  Since people in Jericho knew of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, it seems that Sihon

Dear fellow pilgrims, Yesterday was very difficult.  I never thought I would watch a mob attacking the Capitol and attempting to disrupt constitutional order.  So today, Psalm 55 was part of the daily reading. I hope that these thoughts will encourage you as we follow Jesus together. Blessings, Jeff When a familiar friend turns against him, David calls on God.  Morning, noon and night.  God will listen and humble them because David's opponents do not change and do not fear God.  Selah - Pause and consider - God is enthroned of old. Thinking about political protest.  In our system of government, elected officials can only listen to the vote and not the voice (aka mob).  But God listens to the voice of His children and not the vote..  In David's case, the "majority vote" wanted to do away with him, but God rules over the affairs of men.   Why am I so concerned with the people in office who come and go when I have access through the Spirit and blood of Christ to God who

Good morning faithful reader, I thank God that the Holy Spirit has been working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  The Father delights to have His children read and meditate on His word.  He delights in us when we delight ourselves in Him.  As John Piper says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." We often hear about people today "being called to full time ministry."  The Old Testament prophets had no doubt about their calling. Blessings, Jeff Interrogating the text Who is the initiator in the dialogue?  Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord.  So the Lord is the initiator and Isaiah is the responder.  He hears the question and volunteers to be the messenger, but without God speaking there would be no message and no messenger. Why does God ask the question?  Is He looking for information?  No.  Isaiah is the only person who has seen the vision of the Lord filling the temple.  So he is the only one who can respond to the qu

Grace and peace to you this day As the political process comes to its constitutional end, let us look to our Savior.  All the events that brought the electoral college process to where it is today were under God's control.  Why do I think that the next two days are somehow not under His control. Have I ever mentioned that I am a bit of a math geek.  Today's devo should prove that point. Blessings, Jeff Think about this for a moment. There were roughly 600,000 able bodied men at this point in Israel's journey.  If 1 in a thousand "makes a mistake" each day that would be 600 goats as sin offerings.  If the priests offered 1 goat/minute, that would be 10 hours of non stop slaughtering every day.  If a different group of 600 "made a mistake" each day, Any individual would be "allowed" 1 mistake every 1,000 days.  That's once ever 2.7 years.  So who thinks that Israelites thought they could keep the law perfectly?  Has it been 2.7 years since yo

Dear Friends, Welcome to the prophetic!!!  You may have heard people say that they interpret the Bible literally.  But what does that mean?   That God has eyes, ears, hands, arms, etc?  That a word used in a prophetic book  and in a historical book mean the same thing?  My opinion is that the literal interpretation is the various styles use words differently.  For example, a day in history is generally 24 hours.  A day in prophecy is generally not 24 hours.  So as we go through Isaiah to Malachi (17 books), let us be gracious and not dogmatic.  I am stating what I think it means and how it might apply.  Conversation is welcome on differing views. Blessings, Jeff One of the problems with the way the OT is organized is that the prophets are divided by length.  Major prophets are long and come first, minor prophets are short and come last..  So when we start with Isaiah, we can get the impression that he was the first prophet. Just as the Wisdom books have a particular style, so too with

Good evening Friends, Another weekend catchup.  I once heard a comment (think it was Martyn Lloyd-Jones aka "The Doctor") responding to a question about how he could spend so much time preaching on Romans.  He preached an hour on Friday nights between 1955 and 1968.  His view was Paul was just scratching the surface.  The Doctor didn't feel that he was taking too long, but not long enough.  I got this feeling about Hebrews 10.  It is so important that I can't begin to say how shocking this is.  May I never think that I have it all figured out.. Blessings Jeff What else can be said?  When the Son has a conversation with the Father using Psalm 40 as a basis,  no interpretation is needed.  When we are given the key to understanding sacrificial system in the Old Testament, all we can do is accept it and apply it. Sometimes I wonder how the first recipients of the letters responded.  Hebrews in particular.  While this passage addresses the sacrificial system, the argument

Good morning friends, As the children of Israel started the journey to the Promised Land, some really shocking attitudes and actions.  Always brings me up short.  How could they do that? I ask myself.  And then I look in the mirror.  As we start planning the church activities, it is easy to wonder "How are we going to do this?"  God will provide what we need, when we need it. Blessings, Jeff This is one of my favorite "God questions".  Has the LORD's hand shortened?  KJV is: Is the LORD's hand waxed short?  Have I changed since I parted the Red Sea?  Have I been exhausted by supplying manna? God doesn't ask questions to gain information.  He is omniscient.  He knows the answer before He asks. God asks questions to show people that they have forgotten one or more of God's attributes.  In this case, after all that God has done in the last two years to bring Israel out of Egypt and provide for them at Sinai, Moses should know that God is omnipotent.  Bu

Happy New Year, As we finish wisdom literature and move on to prophetic, I hope you have been challenged by this unique style and the perspective of God that it brings.  It is certainly humbling to have truth that is hard to understand.  I think the prophetic will continue this process. Blessings, Jeff Now that we are at the end of the book, I finally read the intro notes from the ESV study Bible.  "As noted above, perhaps no book in the biblical canon has had a greater diversity of interpretative strategies." Each of these strategies have difficulties.  The line taken by the ESV comments is that Solomon is not the husband of the Shulammite.  The couple are the unnamed shepherd and shepherdess. In her dream, Solomon is something like an idealized knight is shining armor.  It seems to me that this is most reasonable method.  This relatively poor couple are the "proper expression of human sexuality", not Solomon and his harem.  In this method, the marriage of the coup